Dean Markley Sweet Spot

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Takamine
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Pop, Soft Rock, Country
Reason for pickup change: Didn't have one before

Perceived output level: Normal
Tone: Pretty balanced when it works right
Sonic evaluation: I usually plug directly into a PA system, however I've used a some friends amps a few times. I installed it myself about two months ago. When I first plugged it I got nothing, but after fooling around and tapping on it for a few minutes got it to work. Since then whenever I plug it in I get lots of static, especially in the bass. Since I can sometimes get it to work by tapping on the bridge, I think the bridge isn't making a tight conection with the pickup, but if it hasn't settled in in two month how long is it gonna take?

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I've been playing a classical for about three years and wanted an acoustic, but still needed to plug it in occasionally.
I love how you can't tell it's there unless you need it, but I don't know when it'll start working right.

Pickup features: passive acoustic
Impedence or other specs: who knows

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone EJ-200 Jumbo Acoustic
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: smart ones
You musical style(s): vintage country, western swing, bluegrass, gospel
Reason for pickup change: Guitar didn't have a pickup.

Perceived output level: I would call this pickup HOT, at least hotter than the active EQ'd pickup in my Takamine
Tone: A bit too much mid range, very bright, lacks real bass punch.
Sonic evaluation: I've only played through a little homemade amp (I pirated the chassis out of a 10W crate amp and stuck it in an old walnut floor speaker. It aint much but it does have pretty true tone.) This pickup sounds amazingly like a VERY good vocal microphone. It hears everything including just enough finger squeek to pick slap to sound completley authentic. Yes, to get the big booming (bassy) sound out of my jumbo acoustic requries a low-EQ boost. But I aint complaining!
The only curiousity was the initial plug in. I've instslled the pickup over two months ago. (Fairly painless operation. Read the great post about installation below. It really helps.) Anyway, for a number of reasons, I never plugged it into an amp until last night. And when I did - no sound. I jiggled cables, jacks, wiring inside, still nothing. It was like that for about 2 minutes and then it started working - as if it had to 'warm up' or something. It was wierd, but seems to work fine now and I can't find any shorts in my wiring.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Haven't played out live yet...

Comments: Why wait for this to be stolen.? I'm ordering one for both my other acoustics, as well as a spare! I've been a casual player for nearly 25 years, the last five of which more seriously with our Church praise band. This is a killer pickup for the price. It sounds as good as my $1000 Takamine a/e. (But the Tak's active pickup and onboard EQ make it much more flexible.) Still, for a passive pickup, I can't imagine what more one could want.

Pickup features: Passive Piezo
Impedence or other specs: High Z

Model of guitar or bass: Ovation Celebrity (22 years old), probably early Koren made version.
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: factory pickup
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Country and Contemporary Christian music
Reason for pickup change: The factory pickup sounds terrible.

Perceived output level: Output level is high. I have not tested to run it without a preamp. My preamp is a self built 3db FET onboard preamp.
Tone: Balanced, warm acoustic sound that is 1000 times better than the factory pickup.
Sonic evaluation: I use it with a PA system in my church. At home, I plug into my home high end stereo for practice.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Country and Contemporary Christian music. This pickup definitely gives me the sweet acoustic sound I want..

Comments: I installed this pickup myself and didn't get the sweet sound at first. I used heavy EQ to boost bass and trim mid range but still wasn't getting the sound I want. I sent my questions to them through Dean Markley web site and I received an answer from Dean Markley himself (yes, it's him, not typo) the next day !!!! He gave me tips as to what to do and where to check. I then found out that my new saddle base was not straight (and could not tell by naked eyes). After a careful slight sanding of the saddle base on a flat surface, the problem is fixed. I like the sound very much. Dean Markley's service is great !!!!! They care about their customers !!!!
I would definitely buy it again and recommend to my friends if they want to install a pickup. I have been playing for 25 years and I also own an Ovation Adamas SMT. I did compare to other products and found the Sweet Spot gives me the best value.

Pickup features: Passive piezo
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin D-35, Baby Taylor
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: LR Baggs iBeam Active
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Folk, Country, etc
Reason for pickup change: Never could get a good sound from the iBeam

Perceived output level: Hot output. You don't need a pre-amp even though it is passive. Much more signal than the iBeam.
Tone: Balanced, slight piezo edge
Sonic evaluation: I use it through a Baggs Para DI and straight to a small PA. This thing sounds great. No batteries to worry about. The iBeam required too much tweaking to get it to sound just OK. This pickup sounds wonderful, just roll out some mid and a little high and it sounds quite natural.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I strum and sing and it is great for that

Comments: What a steal. You can eBay these all day long for less than $30.00 new. Installation is a breeze and they sound better than just about anything I've heard.

Pickup features: Passive Piezo Under-Saddle Pickup
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Yamaha FG340
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Headway Snake under-saddle transducer coil
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Folk, Blues
Reason for pickup change: Previous 'Headway Snake' pickup died on me (it was a bad installation anyway and used to eat batteries, even when working)

Perceived output level: Much to my surprise, the output level is if anything higher than the Headway Snake it replaced, even though the Snake had a built-in pre-amp and this one doesn't.
Tone: Slightly toppy and mid-toppy, but easily compensated for with touches of tone controls on amp. Gives that Ovation-like electro sound (which some people refer to as quacky, and some like it) unless you lower the gain at the amp or whatever you are using. The gain is PHENOMENAL, especially considering there are NO BATTERIES or pre-amping of any kind!
Sonic evaluation: I use my Yamaha FG340 (which is precious to me, I have had it about 23 years and it KNOWS me!) through a Carlsbro Sherwood Acoustic amp. I sometimes use a Korg AG1000G multi-effects pedal when I need something a bit different, but usually just for a touch of compression, chorus and reverb.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I Play a lot of styles ranging from heavy strumming to intricate picking and fairly heavy slap-style picking, and was surprised to find the output and tone of this pickup to be almost perfect for everything I've tried with it. It doesn't pick up extraneous noises from the sound-board when I'm slap-picking (the old pickup did).

Comments: I would definately buy this pickup again, especially at the price (it just can't be beaten). It sounds better than a lot of on-board pickup/pre-amp/eq setups I've heard, and I really can't fault it at all.
I've been playing about 25 years, and also own a Les Paul and a Telecaster (for those times when you've just got to go with the blues!).
I loved the ease of installation, and I love the sound of the thing.
Reason for buying - there are 3.
1. My old pickup had given up on me and I needed a new one fast.
2. I happened to be buying strings from Strings Direct and saw they had this in at 34.00 UKP +VAT
3. I looked it up in this database (gawd bless ya!), and saw the raves about it (didn't believe half of it, but thought I'd give it a try anyway).
I ordered it online from StringsDirect and it arrived NEXT DAY!
Yhe only complaint, if it can be called one, is that it doesn't come with the endpin jack already soldered, and I'm a bit useless at soldering, but managed without too much trouble (and it WOULD have made the installation a bit trickier if I hadn't been able to thread it cable-first through the drilled hole).
Overall I am about as satisfied with this pickup as I think I possibly could be.
One thing worth noting is that it has a 5 YEAR GUARANTEE!

Pickup features: Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin HD-28
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: No previous pickup
Other pickups on guitar: No other pickups
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Folk, country
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to get a pickup to avoid micing the guitar

Perceived output level: Good output - they say you don't need a preamp, and I found this true. A pre-amp does boost the signal some, and if you have a good preamp, you should have some eq. I would say if you -->need<-- a preamp with this, you have a weak amp.
Tone: The tone is a strong on the treble side, however that is not all bad. It does not take much adjustment to tone down the treble.
Sonic evaluation: I am playing this first through SignalFlex preamp (SF1000)to a Boss CE-2 Chorus pedal to a Fender Passport 250. I have also played it straight to the PA, and results are just fine. I like a little chorus, and the preamp provides some eq and volume control at the guitar.
The first pickup came dead on arrival, and I was a little dissapointed after drilling holes in my guitar. I contacted Dean Markley direct, and they sent a new pickup out right away that works just fine.
DRILLING THE HOLE THROUGH THE TOP
The installation instructions are a bit sketchy if you don't know anything about electronics. The MOST IMPORTANT thing they don't mention is the hole you drill through the bridge and guitar top. To avoid causing a short in the wire, drill the hole at an angle away from the pickup. A hole straight down will require too sharp of a bend in the wire. On my Martin, this meant coming through a brace, which was a little uncomfortable, but I think will be okay.
BORING THE END PIN HOLE
Second, when you bore the end pin hole, work up to the bore size(15/16" will work perfectly. 1/2" will leave slop) In other words, use progressively larger bits. I would recommend getting brand new drills that are very sharp. Turn the drill bit by hand, cutting away the binding. If you have plastic or inlay binding, going after it with a power drill may rip out the binding. Once you have cut through the binding, you can put the power to it.
SOLDERING THE LEADS
The instructions tell you to solder the wire to the end pin. In case you have not dealt with electronics, a few things you need to know. First of all, the wire coming out of the pickup looks like a little cable. What you first see is the outer mesh (ground wire). If you pull the mesh back, you will find an inside wire (hot) that is inside a plastic coating.
1. Take a sewing needle or a straight pin, and "unweave" some of the outer mesh about 1/2" back.
2. Roll the mesh between your fingers and twist it into one wire.
3. Strip back the inside wire (hot) about 1/8"
4. Solder the inside wire (hot) to the shortest connector coming out of the jack.
5. Solder the mesh (ground) to the next longer connector coming out of the jack. Make sure the ground wire does not come into contact with the hot wire.
(The longest piece coming out of the connector is just to hold the wire in place. You can crimp the wire inside this once you are done.)
It took a little while for my pickup to "settle in", just as the instructions explain it may.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup provides a very nice acoustic reproduction. It will not match the sound of a mic, but your listening audience probably won't notice it.

Comments: If this were lost or stolen, I would buy it again. I am ordering another one for my Martin D25-K2. I have been playing for 30 years. The installation instructions need help. A do-it-yourselfer could be in trouble without more instructional detail. I also have a DeArmond sound hole pickup, and it has it's own sound. The Sweet Spot definatley gives a more true acoustic reproduction. I did a fair amount of reading on this pickup and was convinced that for anything in the $25-$175 range, this was the pickup to buy.
I felt that Markley's customer support was excellent. No questions asked. They reviewed installation a little bit to make sure I understood what needed to be done.
My rating of the pickup would be 10. Markley loses 1 point for sketchy installation instructions.

Pickup features: Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Ibanez concord E-767 (
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: Don't know.
You musical style(s): Various (not really folk or new age)
Reason for pickup change: I just really needed to amplify my acoustic and I didn't want a soundhole mounted pick-up! I dispise that stupid little cord hanging there and dangling in the front.(Ahhh!)

Perceived output level: Almost true sound of your acoustic comes through the speakers you're playing through
Tone: Tone is kinda' flat, but you can warm it up with a wee bit of bass.
Sonic evaluation: I didn't like this product at first because I felt that I was getting a bit of a tinny sound through the amp. Then I picked my guitar up after two days and I guess that the pick-up settled more and I was happy that I didn't have to shell out for a fishman! now I want to try playing with foot pedals and other sorts because I am that satisfied with the sound of the sweet spot.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I take a little from Neil Young, a little from today and I mix it with my own sound! (does that make any sense?)

Comments: I would buy this pickup again, but I will go with a Fishman on my next project just because I'm curious and I like to experiment. I've been playing acoustic for a about 8 years now and I wanted to amplify. I find electric to be completely foreign to me and I thought that this would be a better way of getting comfortable with the electric world. I think the Sweet Spot is definatly worth getting. It's very inexpensive and there isn't much alteration to your acoustic. And that was an important factor for me. I find that if you combine this with a little warmth added on the amp or through the monitors any buyer will be happy with it. So I give this item a very respectable 8.5 (not quite an actual 9; 10 is actually not acheivable in my mind!)

Pickup features: Under Saddle Acoustic Pickup (Passive)
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Dean Tradition S12
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Folk/Rock
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Normal
Tone: Balanced
Sonic evaluation: I installed this post purchase in a Dean Tradition S12 acoustic guitar. For practice, I play through a DOD AcousticOne FX into a Dean M16 practice amp.
In live situations, the signal goes through the multi-FX into one of the stereo channels of a Fender Passport PA.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: If I ever had to buy another acoustic guitar, this would definitely be the pickup of choice for post-purchase installation.
I do not purchase acoustic-electrics from the factory simply because all the production models I have seen have a cutaway which I believe diminishes the acoustic properties of the instrument.
I have had other acoustic guitars with piezo-transducers for pickups over the past 25 years. This is the first one that did not sound "clicky" when played straight into an amplifier and does not require a lot of EQ-ing to cut the high end and make the guitar sound more natural.
This has a more natural sound than Barcus-Berry, Fishman or any other piezo crystal transducer can offer and at a price the others can't beat.

Pickup features: Under-saddle piezo
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Jasmine S38S
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Markley transducer
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): anything I can hack
Reason for pickup change: The transducer had feedback problems and low volume

Perceived output level: Pretty high output level.
Tone: I think it has a good sound on it's own and a better sound with a preamp. There is a bit of the quacky sound I expected, but I've heard worse.
Sonic evaluation: Jasmine S38S, Fishman Pro EQII, Crate CA30 amp. Like the packaging says, you don't need a preamp, but I think it doesn't hurt to use one to help the tone. This pickup does put out gobs of sound and can be played very loud without feedback. I can finally hear myself when I'm playing with my band. With the transducer it was anyone's guess if what I was doing made sense.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is a good match for strummers I think, but if I were doing fingerstyle only, I might be more picky about the clucky-ness of it. Overall, though, I think it's good for most any situation.

Comments: I would buy another if I had too because I think it's a good value for the money. I'd buy a better guitar first, then worry about getting a better pickup. There's not much I dislike about it at all. What I love about the Sweet Spot is that I can play loud and finally compete on stage with the other guy's sound, without feeding back. I'd say I'm pretty satisfied with this pickup. For the level of player I am with the quality of guitar I have and the amount of live guitar plating I do, it's a good match.
I'd like to add a comment about one of the previous submissions, the person who had a Sweet Spot that didn't work. I have installed four Sweet Spots for myself and others in the past year. Of the four, one of them was defective. I was installing the pickup and I noticed that there was no signal, so I called Markley and told them what was going on. We checked to make sure I had wired the thing up properly, so on, so forth. The unit had a defective jack (which Markley doesn't even make), so they sent me a complete unit and an apology. That's good customer service. No company wants someone to have a bad experience with their product, so if you have a defective one, call them. They'll probably send you a new one.

Pickup features: Single coil I believe, passive. It's nothing dazzlingly fancy.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Seagull S6+ Folk
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: No pickup stock, though you can get 'Gulls with Baggs stuff on them, but that requires having a hole in the upper bout of your acoustic.
Other pickups on guitar: Sure, a big PAF in the soundhole, duh..........no
Artists using this pickup: Me damnit! Oh, famous? Ummmm, nevermind.
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, Folk, Funk, some Jazz, and everything else under the sun.
Reason for pickup change: I have a Tacoma DM-18, which sounds great, but I don't want to do anything except keep it stock, it might be valuable one day. So I bought a Seagull S6+ Folk because I dug the sound and I thought it looked much cooler, and sounded better than a dred. I wanted a pickup in it to use on stage since it's a cheap box I won't lose too much sleep over if it get's hurt. So I wasn't going to spend $200 for a pickup on it. And I wanted something with no damn battery to clunk around. It's an acoustic, batteries in an acoustic are...un-natural.

Perceived output level: I don't have to cut the volume on my amp up much at all to compensate, so it's got some power.
Tone: Balanced, but kind of harsh, maybe a bit much on the high end. But, that said, Baggs, Fishman, and pretty much everything else sound kind of harsh to me too. So the Sweet Spot is pretty normal, it has that piezo quack/cluck too, but not as noticable as some Fishman's.
Sonic evaluation: The first time I tried it through my guitar teacher's (he installed the pickup, he's a repairman/luthier) old solid state amp, and it didn't sound bad at all. It doesn't sound bad through my little solid state practice amp at home either, and it sounds pretty good through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe considering it's in electric guitar amplifier. I can't wait to put it through a PA.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This sounds good for my style of playing. By no way is this pickup totally natural sounding, but it's about as natural sounding as anything else out there, plus no batteries, and it doesn't need an onboard EQ.

Comments: I'd buy this again, it's a pretty good value, though the jack that came with it I think there's a little bit of a bad connection with a wire somewhere in the jack, it needs a little tweaking. I've been playing 7 years, and I own a bunch of electrics (2 strats, a '72 Tele thinline, a Peavey Wolfgang Special, my Tacoma, a Jasmine classical, and I'm boring you with my gear, so I won't list the rest). I like the overall sound, it sounds alright to me, like it should cost more. Make no mistake though, no pick up can ever possibly capture all the magic of an acoustic. I don't wish the Sweet Spot had anything more...I didn't want to rout a damn hole in my upper bout and have to reach in the sound hole to change a battery. It has a good sound even with electric guitar amps. Oh, and to the reviewer below, hey, deal with it, sometimes things get damaged, maybe you had a dead jack. It happends with electric guitar pick-ups too, like one in a hundred. Anyways, since the thing does sound a little harsh, I'll mark it down a little, but I do really like the the sound...especially for $60, a good value for a good sounding under the saddle pickup.